Year 18, Week 10, Day One (week 950)

Year 18, Week 10, Day One (week 950)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-24-18 Saturday


61 degrees early morning, 78 late after noon. Sunny, nice breeze. Some clouds early morning which were gone before noon. Over the past few weeks, we have gotten some chilly weather. A few down below our 56 degree frost temperature we have here. It is always fun to see frosty palm trees.  We got the cold weather each time the northeast got their snow. A thin wave of a front would pass over us, about a county wide, and be gone before half the day was gone. This Weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.


After Breakfast, I went out on my own. At one yard sale, I picked up two granite cutting boards. I had wanted something like them for years. Now that I have them, I am now having after thoughts about using them. I like wood as they are easy on the knife edge. I picked up a couple tools at another. 
During the first yard sale run, (I stopped back at home half way through for a pit stop since I was just a few blocks away)  I noticed I could tell the northerners from the southerners. the southerners had coats or at least sleeves. Once the sun was up, it warmed up quickly. While it was still cool, I drove most of the way with the window open. My truck has electric windows. I do see I have one little problem. I am so used to leaving the truck and simply hitting the button to lock it, I don't remember to wind up the windows, which must be done with the power on. Something to keep in mind.

There was a "community" yard sale, at a condo that had about ten people out. I picked up a pair of hot pads that a woman's friend had made. She said she did not want to ruin them by using them. They are boys clothes and girls clothes in crochet. I thought that my teddy bears would fit in them. When I got them home, I tried a bear in the dress and found that there is no hole in the body where the arms attach.. They are really cute and are giving me ideas.
I also got one of those rolling walkers where it has a seat. I had a friend who had mentioned they were interested in it. It was a really low price.
At some of the yard sales, I parked quite a distance away as there were so many cars. I ran into the situation where it was a nothing walk to the yard sale, but when I headed back, I was shocked how far I was parked away. I almost thought someone moved my truck. I made no attempt to park close at the yard sales to take advantage of easy parking.. 
The local library had a book sale this weekend. I picked up a few books. There was half the books they had last time. I told them the joke, "An author knows his book is bad when he donates his book to the library and he finds them in the next book sale." One of the woman said “that sometimes that happens.”
Before I got home, I was feeling the workout I did. I skipped a couple yard sales at the last leg of the trip. 
I mentioned the community yard sale to mom. She decided she wanted to see it. When we got there,  some people had already packed up. 

We then went to a Japanese buffet that recently opened. It was more expensive than we are used to. The food was good, but we really wanted a different set of flavors. I have said many times that “Sushi is a way to get the elite to eat rice.” Of course, we had to park a distance away since a popular grocery store was nearby. That meant I had to walk a good distance on my already tired legs. Then at the buffet, you have to walk to get your food. 
I don’t plan to do much more walking tonight.

I will see what I do tomorrow.




Year 18, Week 10, Day One (week 950)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-25-18 Sunday

I went back to that moving sale I visited yesterday and last week. I could have gotten a whole bunch of tools and get them cheap, but held off. I had seen a sawsall and had talked myself out of it since I already have three. I decided If it was there, I would get it anyway. It was gone. I had some money in my pocket and should have helped him by cleaning out a lot of the hand tools. I gave most of the ones I got last week to my brother. I did get a couple items. He was happy to be rid of them. 

I am not moving well after yesterday’s exertions. From the time of the hurricane to Christmas, I was not walking hardly at all because of the foot infections I had. I ended up, after being healed,  not being able to walk any distance without discomfort. The infections are gone, but I have not done enough to get back into shape. Yesterday I was reminded about how bad a shape I still am at. I am working on it, but not enough.

I took the rest of the day off, accomplishing nothing important.  One thing I did was I had some accumulated batches of yarn I picked up over the past few months that were not put away. I also have some project yarn in the truck. I gathered all that yarn, some in bags, some loose and poured them all out. The project bag that was in the truck was showing the effects of sun and heat so I chose another bag. I did not want a bigger bag but I am not sure where smaller bags might be located. Just as I suspected, the amount of yarn and stuff the project bag ended up with was more than before. “Oh, that is a good color, I also need cotton, but if I don’t have that color, I might wish I had it.” on and on. Now I can work on new projects. 
One thing I did do is stick a set of knitting needles in there. There is a project partially done by a beginner with the needles still in place. My intention when I bought it a couple years ago was to use it to learn how to knit. Get the act of knitting down first, then work at other things such as starting and finishing.  I hope that sometime I will find the time to try it out. Looking at the way things have been going with my schedule, It will likely sitting at the hospital, keeping someone company or when we have a power out. Or possibly waiting for some work to be done on the truck.
The scarf I’ve been working on is just about finished. I just have to weave in the tails where I swapped colors. Previously, I left the yarns attached. I decided that when I finished a row, I would clip it and then start the next color. Now I have to weave in the ends. 
I am planning on making some teddy bear clothing. I will do a design I have in mind already planned, then I might try to copy those hot pads next. The rest of the yarn is sort-of put away. 
I have learned with any craft or hobby. If you choose your project, then look at the stock you have, you don’t have anything to work with. On the other hand, if you look at the stock you have, and pick a project that will use it, you will have a lifetime’s worth of stock. What I really need to do is retire and spend all my time wood working and crochet. 


I will see what I will do next week.
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Year 18, Week 09, Day One (week 949)

Year 18, Week 09, Day One (week 949)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-17-18 Saturday

I forgot to note down the weather. 


THURSDAY


I went to the turning club meeting.  It was great to reconnect to some friends. It had been since, I think, October since I was able to go. You don’t realize how much you missed them until you see them again. 
The demonstration was on the making of pens. Usually, you need a mandrel for the brand pen you are making, and the pen kit, which comes with the metal work the pen will need. What you are making in wood is the body of the pen. The mandrel will have bushings and screw knob to hold things in place. You work the ends of your wood down to match the bushings, which are the same size as the middle ring and the end parts of the pen. Usually, you turn both parts of the body the same time. 
There are preparatory work you have to do before you do the actual turning. You start with square stock. Pen blanks are available at most woodworking supply stores in exotic woods. One drills the blank first, then drive a brass tube through the hole. There are cutters one can use to true up the ends, making them square with the tube. 
After that is done, one can then do the turning. The square stock has to become round. By doing everything from the original hole, it will be balanced as you turn.
Generally, the body will be thicker in the center than on the ends for a nicer grip. With this demonstration, he had glued some veneer into the stock wood on an angle before he cut the pen blanks. It added another nice feature to the pen. 
He explained about attaching the hardware to the pen. The back has to be pressed in just the right amount so that when you push the button, the pen will extend past the end of the tip, and retract fully. He said there are “pen presses” out there, but he used a clamp that you tighten by a grip on the handle. He said he knows about how much it has to be pressed in, but he stops the first time shy of what is needed so he can sneak up on the final setting. 
He usually sands to 8000 grit, going 350, 400, 600, 1000, 2000, 6000, 8000. These are almost always hard woods that can take a polish just by sanding. He finishes it with a wax coating to bring out the gloss and he will usually buff it.
I took pictures of the stuff on display for the club. The most interesting thing on display was a light house. It was made in parts. The base was interesting. He said that he did not like the original base he had, so he took out a piece of wood with bark and turned the surfaces. His wife did not like that, so He added sand to part of the base. That was better but not good enough. He then added some shells and that really topped it off. 


SATURDAY

Right after breakfast, we went out to find a yard sale that was for the cub scouts. We learned it was actually in April.  We did find a yard sale with several people participating. I bought a few things that can fit in a pocket. They had a couple of nice computer desks and I had to remind myself I have no place to put them if I got them.

Earlier in the week I turned my back wrong. My back was doing good today, but I was not taking any chances. I decided to go home early and stay. At home I took the time to clean up my computer desk some. I found a few things I thought I lost or forgot I had. I have come to the conclusion that the best way to save something is to hide it. It will be there years or decades later....

I will see what I do tomorrow.

Year 18, Week 09, Day two (week 949)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-18-18 Sunday

Again I forgot to note what the temps were.. 




I found a moving sale. Those are usually nice. They are usually trying to unload stuff so the prices are good. Sometimes, though, they are trying to get money to make the moving easier. The guy was selling hand tools dirt cheap. The box I ended up with on the tools was heavy. The one big thing I ended up with, was a hand plane. It looks like it is in good condition. I have not checked the blade.

Mom has a golden Shower tree (yellow Tabebuia) that was tipping. It is one of the few plants in her yard that is in the ground. It was in a wooden barrel planter that rotted away. She decided she wanted to stand straight up.  She had me push on the small tree to take a bad lean out of it. It was not hard, but getting between the branches was a pain. She put a steak under the branch to hold it up. She will work on making the support better later. After a period of time, it will correct the growth to the new position. 

Someone had a washing machine that they forgot what some features were for. I went on line and located a copy of the basic instructions. We now know where to put the fabric softener and the chlorine are to be added.. It took a bit to figure out where I could find the right model number in order to find the right instructions. Then to find a site that actually had the instructions for that machine.  Even then, the instructions are for machines that don't have these features. 

I will see what I do next week.
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the light house

a pen being turned on the mandrel 

Year 18, Week 08, Day One (week 948)

Year 18, Week 08, Day One (week 948)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-10-18 Saturday

67 degrees. Was predicted to be in the 50s but things changed.  The showers after one never showed up. 83 afternoon.  Light breeze. Some showers in the late afternoon from a front passing through. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

After breakfast, we went to "granny's attic" which is sort of a collector's rummage sale. there was a lot of jewelry, quite a few cook books, some dolls. there was a meat grinder but while I eyed it, I walked away without even getting a price. I told them about how I already have two, and I used to get a Boston Butt Roast, slice off steaks and then use the meat around the bone to make ground meat. The lady got a kick out of that. The second time around the place, it was gone. 
My friend of mine I got to know through yard sales was there. she had mostly jewelry but a few other things. At a different table, I glanced through THE CHILDREN’S COOK BOOK. I was disappointed that there wasn't any children used in any of the recipes......
I walked the place three times before we left. My legs knew we did a lot of walking. it is so much easier to walk with a shopping cart.
We stopped at a multi family yard sale. It was at the house of an old man who has done many yard sales over the years. I think he is in his 90s. It was good to see him. I got a folding cloth covered box. I have several of these, but have no idea where they are right now. 

After we got back, I headed out on my own. I stopped at one yard sale, then took my truck to be serviced.
I played a few games on my tablet, then started on the scarf  I have had in process for a while. I finished the last row of red&black, then saw that the black&white needed to be balled. I balled up both of them using my method to allow them to pull out the center, then got half way through the B&W before I ran out of time. This is the last row, then I need to clean up the ends. They worked faster on the truck than I expected, and also I beat two levels in candy crush so that took me longer.  My truck is good for another 5 k before service again.

The neighbor’s remodeling is picking up steam. Contractors were digging a trench in the back yard for the electrical plumbing. It is sand so it is easy to dig. The problem is both him and his partner are in bad shape due to heavy schedules they have had to work during the week... 
I love hard work. Bone bending, muscle pulling hard work. I can sit and watch it all day. 
I sat and watched them and sometimes talked to them while I was carving. The first rocking horse/laying dog might not be recoverable. I had popped a leg off and it is not gluing right. I should take the time and dig out a couple clamps. 
I started another one and it is coming along nicely. At this point, this one almost looks more like a Saint Bernard than the hound I had planned. That is not too bad for a rough carving.
The guy had to cut a few roots from the Mango tree. I need to go out and grab them and hang onto them. At the moment, they are very easy to carve. A couple slices goes right through the wood. Unlike branches and stems, roots don’t require strength. They are just to draw nutrients from one place to another. 
I have no idea what they will be like when they dry. The last root I had was soft and mainly fibers when it had dried. 
I intend to carve some elves in the wood. 

I will see what I will do tomorrow



Year 18, Week 08, Day Two (week 948)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-11-18 Sunday

66 morning, 79 in the afternoon. Cloudy with some expected showers coming tomorrow. This weather report is brought to you by the City Of Pompano Beach Department of Tourism.

The contractor was here again and because it is supposed to rain really hard tomorrow, he needed to get the pipe in and covered or it would float up, messing things up.
His partner was not able to come because he was hurting too much. I had little important to do so I  helped him with some things. Holding the pipe on the end to keep it moving as he pushed a fitting on, handing him stuff while he was in the trench, and just talking to him. He was sore and wore out when he started burying the pipe. He said he will likely come and fill in the trench some more in a day or so.. 
I am not in great shape either. I can walk all the isles of large grocery stores if walking behind a cart, but it is hard work walking around the house to get to the back. The thing I do best at this moment, is to sit. I am an expert at that. 

While watching him, I grabbed the mango roots and decided to carve on them. Green as they are, these are too soft to get details in. I roughed out three figures and will let them dry before I work on them more. 
I love how I have not forgotten anything about carving. I still see the figures inside the wood and can release the excess wood to show what was hiding in there. 
There are two things that one has to have to carve. One is a mind’s eye picture of what the figure is supposed to be with an idea of what wood has to be removed to get to it, and then the skill of placing and moving the knife to make the cuts that have to be done. I have not lost either of those. 
I have done light carving so far so I have not developed blisters or sore spots on my hands. I don't have the callouses I once had. There have been many times where I did a lot of carving, then stopped for one reason or another, then when I pick up the knives again, I have to develop the callouses again. The mango roots were like carving on a very hard vegetable. The knife went through the root nicely. I once had some strangler fig root and it was light fibrous when it was dry. Will be interesting to see how these dry. They are on the window sill in my bedroom. 

I will see what I do next week.
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pieces of mango root. It had some white sap came from portions of the bark while it was really fresh. .

Year 18, Week 07, Day One (week 947)

Year 18, Week 07, Day One (week 947)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-03-18 Saturday

58 degrees early morning 78 degrees late afternoon. Good breeze taking away any heat that developed. Some clouds but mostly blue sky. I don’t remember a cloud blocking the sun. This weather report is brought to you by the city of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.

I had a good yard sale drive today. I skipped a bunch, but hit 8 yard sales. I loitered at a couple so it ended up taking a whole lot longer than normal. I picked up three cook books that looked interesting. One is Caribbean cooking. This was a thin picture book. Another is Balkans cooking. that is a thick book with recipes from the western part of the old soviet union. Balkans, the book says, is “mountains” in Turkish. The last book is a reprint of a revolutionary period cook book. I've read the introduction but have not looked into the rest of the book. 
I found a bible that is a translation of a people in the Syria region. Mom was comparing some passages with the King James version. Of course the “thees” and “thous” were gone. They were extremely simular but some words here and there in the translation show where the wording put forward a completely different impression. “Giving love OF unto one another” and “Giving love TO one another” have different effects. The differences were small. I have heard other translations where you have to look carefully to see that they are the same passage. Because of this, most scholars study the bible in the original languages since often,  one word might take a whole sentence in English to say the same thing.
I picked up a cast iron pan, square with spouts on each corner, and a few other things. 

Mom and I went to a condo yard sale together right after breakfast and I picked up a digital camera cheap. It works nice takes good enough pictures. It is an 8 megapixel Olympus. I generally have my camera set on a low resolution so they E-mail easily.  I will look for instructions on line. It took some time to figure out that there were separate buttons to review the images, rather than on the main control.  This comes with two batteries and a charger you plug the batteries into. I figured out that the camera does not charge when plugged into the computer. The only reason I got it was as a spare camera. I am good at breaking cameras.

I keep seeing wonderful things at the yard sales, but I don’t have room for any of them... What I need is a couple dozen homes to decorate...... and lots of money.....

I will see what I do tomorrow.


Year 18, Week 07, Day Two (week 947)
(January 17, 2000 was my first carving day.)
03-04-18 Sunday

58 degrees mid morning 78 degrees late afternoon. (One friend who lives inland said it was 54 degrees at six) Good breeze taking away any heat that developed. Some clouds but mostly blue sky. I don’t remember a cloud blocking the sun. I woke up early this morning (four) and had to turn my heaters on. It was 58 outside I was talking to a friend who lives farther west (just a few miles) and he said it was 54 at six am. For us, that is cold.
This weather report is brought to you by the city of Pompano Beach Department Of Tourism.


I returned to carving on the "dog" which originally was supposed to be a rocking horse As I neared to carve on the legs, I realized I had no idea how a laying dog looks like. I was questioning how the legs were positioned or how the parts were angled. I googled ‘laying dog’ pictures and found that my image of how a dog’s limbs go when resting was utterly wrong.  I forgot that dogs and cats actually walk on their toes. The joint above the paws is actually the ankle bone, not the knee. The thigh bone is extremely short and is almost entirely encased within the body. Horses also are designed that way, though their toes are fused into a hoof. Remembering this, allowed me to start removing wood properly to make it a laying dog.
A bit later, I twisted the blade broke a front leg off and had to glue it. that ended my carving. Even with that, it was a good day.

One rule of carving is don’t twist, especially if you are working around a thin piece of wood.. Usually a twist is done because a piece of shaving won’t come out or you have a large shaving that you are trying to loosen. In every case one gets a break from twisting, it seemed like a good move at that moment. Knives and chisels are supposed to slice through the wood. A chisel can be used to pry up wood if you have a stopping cut across the grain or are deep against a solid piece of attached wood. It is better to cut from one direction, then remove it from the other direction. 

I have not done it, but one should try what is called chip carving. Chip carving is where you cut what are generally triangle chips to create a picture or pattern. It is a good exercise, even if done poorly, on how to remove wood cleanly without tearing and breakage. Chip carving is usually done with specialized knives, one has a curved downward tip for the actual cutting, and another is for plunge cuts for an additional pattern effect. If you practice chip carving, your regular carvings will be faster and easier. Of course I have not practiced my recommendations.......

I will see what I do next week.
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This is what the rocking horse looks like as it is turned into a dog.

The other side of the rocking horse dog.

The new from-scratch dog.

The other side of the from-scratch dog.

Top view

bottom view.